Quotes
From
Early
Church
Fathers
on Christ's
DeathChrist taken down
from the cross,
by James Tissot

CONTEMPLATING THE
LORD'S PASSION

from a sermon by Leo the Great, 5th
century

True reverence for the Lord's passion means fixing the eyes of
our heart
on Jesus crucified and recognizing in him our own humanity.

The earth - our earthly nature - should tremble at the suffering
of
its Redeemer. The rocks - the hearts of unbelievers - should come
forth,
the massive stones now ripped apart. Foreshadowings of the future
resurrection
should appear in the holy city, the church of God: what is
happening to our
bodies should now take place in our hearts.

No one, however weak, is denied a share in the victory of the
cross.
No one is beyond the help of the prayer of Christ. His prayer
brought benefit
to the multitude that raged against him. How much more does it
bring to
those who turn to him in repentance.

Ignorance has been destroyed, obstinacy has been overcome. The
sacred
blood of Christ has quenched the flaming sword that barred access
to the
tree of life. The age-old night of sin has given place to the true
light.

The Christian people are invited to share the riches of paradise.
All
who have been reborn have the way open before them to return to
their native
land, from which they had been exiled. Unless indeed they close
off for
themselves the path that could be opened before the faith of a
thief.

The business of this life should not preoccupy us with its
anxiety and
pride, so that we no longer strive with all the love of our heart
to be
like our Redeemer, and to follow his example. Everything that he
did or
suffered was for our salvation: he wanted his body to share the
goodness
of its head.

First of all, in taking our human nature while remaining God, so
that
the Word became man, he left no member of the human race,
the unbeliever
excepted, without a share in his mercy. Who does not share a
common nature
with Christ if he has welcomed Christ, who took our nature, and is
reborn
in the Spirit through whom Christ was conceived?

Again, who cannot recognize in Christ his own infirmities? Who
would
not recognize that Christ's eating and sleeping, his sadness and
his shedding
tears of love are marks of the nature of a slave?

It was this nature of a slave that had to be healed of its
ancient wounds
and cleansed of the defilement of sin. For that reason the only-
begotten
Son of God became also the son of man. He was to have both the
reality
of human nature and the fullness of the Godhead.

The body that lay lifeless in the tomb is ours. The body that
rose again
on the third day is ours. The body that ascended above all the
heights
of heaven to the right hand of the Father's glory is ours. If then
we walk
in the way of his commandments, and are not ashamed to acknowledge
the
price he paid for our salvation in a lowly body, we too are to
rise to
share his glory. The promise he made will be fulfilled in the
sight of
all: Whoever acknowledges me before men, I too will
acknowledge him
before my Father who is in heaven.

Leo
was born in 400 AD in Tuscany, Italy. He was well-educated, but
yearned
for the spiritual life. He became an archdeacon under Pope
Sixtus III.
When Sixtus III died in 440, Leo was unanimously elected Bishop
of Rome.
Leo led the church during a particularly troubled time when
barbarian armies
were ravaging what remained of the Roman Empire which was in
total political
and military collapse and suffered a vacuum of political
leadership. Pope
Leo filled the void and became the advocate for the temporal as
well as
spiritual needs of his flock. He is noted for persuading Attila
the Hun
to abandon his plans to sack the city of Rome in 452. He was the
spokesperson
for the Roman citizenry in 455 when the Vandal barbarians swept
into Central
Italy, securing concessions from them. Many of Leo's sermons and
letters
were concerned with theological questions concerning the person
of Jesus
Christ and his role as mediator and savior. Leo died in 461.